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| ring-necked snake |
Creating habitat in your yard means inviting in predators as well as prey. You can't have healthy equilibrium without creatures at all levels of the food chain.
One of our predators isn't large or threatening, but it is important. We happened upon this juvenile ring-necked snake (Diadophis punctatus) spending the day between rocks at the bottom of the fence. See video of this snake on TheEarthMinute.com
Though small in size (typically 30-90 cm) the ring-necked snake is an important predator of small creatures, notably salamanders and lizards in its western distribution. We have both, especially a growing population of western fence lizards. We noticed a couple of years ago that the explosion of young fence lizards had slowed. Around that time came my first observation of a ring-necked snake. Not long after, I found the remains of one that had been eaten.
This snake species is found across North America. The eastern population tends to be smaller with a yellowish belly, while the western population has a bright red belly. In both cases this bright coloration is flashed at would-be predators to scare them off. The color red is often found in nature as a warning color suggesting venom or poison. There are theories that the red scares scrub-jays which might potentially eat these small snakes if they found them in the leaf litter.
The ring-necked snake is a member of family colubridae, the most numerous group of snakes. Most are harmless to humans. The large eyes indicate that this snake is a visual hunter and as a colubrid with a long thin, fast body, it most likely tracks down its prey.
Lizards and amphibians can be tricky to catch and subdue. The ring-necked snake is one of many colubrids which is now known to have venom delivered by fixed fangs at the back of the mouth. The venom delivery system has evolved for prey like lizards. The snake bites the lizard, holds on and moves the mouth back and forth to work the venom into the struggling prey. The nature of the venom and the manner of its delivery makes most rear-fanged venomous snakes not dangerous to humans. This little snake does not want to use its valuable venom on a human or a bird predator, that is why it has the warning coloration on its belly. "I could bite you scrub-jay, but I really don't want to. Leave me alone."
We gently relocated the ring-necked snake to the other side of the yard while we were working on the fence. We hope that it stays and continues to live in our yard. Small, unassuming predators like the ring-necked snake are vital to biodiversity and habitat balance. Would you believe that a study of density, found a healthy ecosystem could have 719 - 1,849 of these small snakes in an area the size of two football fields? And most people would have no idea they were there.
How many times have you found a dried-up worm on the sidewalk? That was my first guess when I saw this desiccated, long-bodied shape on the steps in the backyard. But the body seemed too thick for the worms we typically find in our ground.
My heart sunk. Had someone stepped on one of our slender salamanders? But there were no little legs. Slender salamanders have tiny, but always visible legs.
When I picked it up I knew I was definitely looking at not a worm and not a salamander. This is a reptile. Now the question was lizard or snake?
This is a reptile because small scales are visually apparent. Worms and amphibians are creatures with soft permeable skin, no scales.
The specimen is not a full body. There is no head and no real torso. Some natural predator ate the front portion of this reptile. There are no legs, but I didn’t have much of the body and some lizards are legless. Turning it over instantly told me this was the back section of a snake, specifically a ringneck snake.
How did I know that? If you look at the belly or dorsal side you can see elongated scales that go across the width of the belly. These are the scute scales that enable the snake to make its way across the ground without having legs. The scute scales end at the cloaca, the opening that serves both reproductive and elimination systems. So we are looking at the last 4-5 inches of a small snake.
The clue that this is a ringneck snake is the vivid orange color on the belly with numerous black spots or flecks. The ringneck snake is the only local California species with this coloration and this is most likely a San Bernardino ringneck snake (Diadophis punctatus modestus) the subspecies typical to our area.
I saw a live adult ringneck snake in the yard almost exactly a year ago. They never get too large, just 10-30 inches. The individual snake I saw was larger than this. Perhaps they are breeding in our oasis of native habitat. There are plenty of salamanders or western fence lizards and their eggs for these small snakes to eat.
I’m sad to see this beneficial and non-threatening snake dead. I’m not sure who ate it. Possibly either the raccoon, skunk or opossum that circle through our yard on a regular basis. I’m hoping that there are more of them hiding in the undergrowth–a healthy habitat needs small predators like snakes.
Seeing a snake in the wild is unusual, spotting a wild snake that has just caught its prey and is in the process of feeding is rare.
While fishing on a stream in the Eastern Sierra mountains, we happened on a gopher snake that had just constricted a pack rat and was starting to swallow it. You can see the bottom edge of the pack rat's stick nest in the top right of the photo.
When a snake is swallowing its food, it is vulnerable to predators. It was evening and this gopher snake was not happy when it initially realized it was being observed. But we kept our distance and just watched and the large gopher snake settled into consuming its catch.
The snake was approximately 1.75 inches in diameter, while the rodent was about the size of my fist. It took 5-10 minutes for the six-foot snake to swallow it's large meal.
Once the large rodent was swallowed, several of the observers were surprised that there wasn't an equally large lump in the snake's body. But a snake body is very muscular and unless a meal is supersized, the food is compressed down and sent on its way to the very efficient digestive system. Most likely, this snake will not need to feed again for at least 3-4 weeks.
Amazingly, within 20 feet of this sizable adult gopher snake, we also saw a new hatchling (about the width of cotton yarn) swimming up the stream and a yearling (about the width of a pen and 2 ft long). Obviously this stream-side ecosystem was providing enough varied-size prey for multiple generations of gopher snake.
Note the pattern on the gopher snake, kind of checker-board black with yellowish. Frequently, gopher snakes are mistaken for rattlesnakes and killed without hesitation. These snakes are important rodent predators and not dangerous to humans.
I am hoping that one day a gopher snake will one day take up residence in my yard. However, we do have a ring-necked snake that has moved in. But we have what gopher snakes are named after, more on that soon.
I don't usually post other people's photos, but in this case I am hoping to save a few lives.
Ask yourself, What is the most dangerous element of your life? My answer is Ignorance and Fear - the IF factor.
What IF it bites me? What IF it's an animal carrying a disease? What IF it is a poisonous snake?
Ignorance and Fear led to the death of this snake. The neighbor of a friend, killed this gopher snake and then asked her if it was dangerous?
They had a perfect view of the tail. Do you see a rattle?
NO.This is a native gopher snake. This species is vital for controlling rodent populations. Ironically, my friend is currently having to hire an exterminator to deal with a rat problem. This snake was attracted to the large number of rats in the neighborhood. It was trying to reduce the number of rats by eating them. Gopher snakes are active during the day which makes them vulnerable to people spotting them. Their coloration is similar to a Southern Pacific rattlesnake, because both species are trying to blend in with our native chaparral.
However, take a good look at this snake. It has a narrow head, not the triangular head of a rattlesnake. It has a fairly thin, long body for moving quickly. Rattlesnakes have typically stout bodies and move more slowly. They are ambush hunters who wait for food to come their way. 
The gopher snake has a checkerboard pattern on its skin. Local rattlesnakes have a diamond pattern.
Gopher snakes DO NOT have rattles. The ONLY venomous or poisonous snakes that are naturally found in the Los Angeles area are rattlesnakes.
A gopher snake can sometimes make a rattling sound by rapidly vibrating its tail against dry grass or leaves. It does this to protect itself. The gopher snake has evolved to occasionally make a rattling sound so that predators will think it is a rattlesnake and leave it alone.
Unfortunately, people are the most dangerous animals on the planet. We kill things then try to understand what they are. The worst part of this story is that not only did these uninformed people kill a beneficial snake, by doing so, they now have made their property more attractive to rattlesnakes. Gopher snakes are efficient rodent predators. With the gopher snake gone, a rattlesnake has a better opportunity to move in an try to eat the neighborhood rats.
Gopher snakes are YOUR FRIENDS. They eat rodents and make your property less attractive to rattlesnakes. Honor them. Respect them. Don't play the IF game and kill them.
